Zivo rallies from last to win Suburban Handicap

ELMONT, N.Y. – The hits just kept on coming Saturday for Jose Lezcano, whose natural hat trick on Belmont Park's inaugural Stars and Stripes program was capped by Zivo’s upset of the $500,000 Suburban Handicap.

Many bettors had the right trainer but the wrong license plate number in the Suburban, as Zivo paid $49 for his sixth straight victory, while Chad Brown’s other starter, the highweighted Last Gunfighter, checked in ninth as the 3-1 second choice.

Five weeks after coming from last to win the Commentator against New York-breds, Zivo was in the same position down the backstretch as Moreno set a solid pace of 23.58 seconds, 46.82, and 1:10.70 while pressed from the inside by Stormin Monarcho and from the outside by Prayer for Relief.

Moreno plugged along in front through a mile in 1:35.56, but Zivo began gathering momentum while saving ground through most of the turn and came through on the rail to challenge turning for home.

Zivo gained command inside the eighth pole and drove clear to win the 128th running of the Grade 2 race by three lengths. The Suburban was lengthened back to 1 1/4 miles for the first time since 2009, and Zivo ran the distance in 2:00.43 in his graded stakes debut.

“Chad told me the horse was doing very good,” said Lezcano, who was fresh off winning the $400,000 Belmont Sprint Championship with Clearly Now and the $1.25 million Belmont Derby with Mr Speaker. “He told me to let him break and sit and make one run. He gave me what I needed to win the race. [Moreno] kept going, but my horse came running.”

Zivo, bred and owned by Thomas Coleman, carried 116 pounds and improved to 9-2-4 from 15 starts overall.

“We’ve always put him in races we think fit him,” said Brown. “The horse has really come around well, and it was time to step out of New York-bred company and try him in open company in a race with a big purse. Once I saw the strong pace, I knew he’d come running. That last eighth was definitely as strong as I’ve seen from him.”

Moreno saved the place by three-quarters of a length over Prayer for Relief, who was a neck in front of longshot Ever Rider.

Romansh finished fifth with no apparent excuses as the 2-1 favorite, followed by Mylute, Micromanage, Norumbega, Last Gunfighter, Stormin Monarcho, and Vyjack.